Morgan Hill city employees toil away, day after day, mostly out
of sight of the taxpayers who pay their salaries. Once a year,
however, their work is recognized by their peers and presented as a
gift to the public.
Morgan Hill city employees toil away, day after day, mostly out of sight of the taxpayers who pay their salaries. Once a year, however, their work is recognized by their peers and presented as a gift to the public.
At a lunch before Thanksgiving, officials singled out four Peak Performance award winners and named the Employee of the Year. Peak Performance Awards come in four categories: challenge, innovation, professional growth and teamwork.
Jay Jaso, a management analyst in Public Works, was selected as Employee of the Year. City Manager Ed Tewes describes Jaso’s work:
“He consistently looks beyond the scope of his job description and embraces the City’s vision, accepts new challenges eagerly, is innovative in his approach, continues to grow professionally and was even nominated for the teamwork award as a single person team. Jay received nominations in all of the award categories and is a true ambassador for the City of Morgan Hill.”
Jaso was also a shining light and ground floor organizer of the Poppy Jasper Film Festival, now in the planning stages for November 2004.
The Peak Performance Challenge Awards went to Tina Rodriguez, of Public Works, and Danille Rice of the City Clerk’s office. Rodriguez was chosen because she consistently takes on new challenges and always finds creative, positive ways to meet them and by going the extra mile to find a solution.
Rice “stepped up to the plate” and contributed to the success of a new service: Passport applications. Since the city began receiving the applications July 1, it has collected more than $7,000 in revenue.
Innovation in city government is demonstrated by recognizing that creative performances often get better results. Andrew Jackson of the Morgan Hill Police Department used his talent, vision and skills to improve employee morale by designing the department’s new, artistic shoulder patch. It is the first original design the MHPD has ever used and sports El Toro Mountain in the background.
“His design will leave a lasting legacy on officers’ uniforms for decades to come,” the anonymous nomination form said.
Professional growth was demonstrated by Mario Jimenez of Public Works.
“He consistently and stubbornly pushes the limits of training and learning while on the job and is dedicated to achieving a Bachelor’s degree off the job,” the report claims.
Teamwork plaudits went to employees who can work well together, this year to a staff-wide group that produced a new employee newsletter distributed by Intranet.
They must:
• leave their egos at the door
• listen to others
• assume responsibility for team assignments
• trust and challenge other team members
• show that working together can achieve more than working alone
The winning team consisted of Margarita Balagso of Recreation and Community Services; Pam Borzone, MHPD; Joni Evans and Karen Lengsfield, Human Resources; Louise Eichhorn, Jay Jaso and Mario Jimenez, Public Works and Chu Thai, Finance.
“They invented themselves as a group, seized an idea, asked if they could try it, stuck with it through technical difficulties,” the report said, developing a new communication for the entire staff.
